Mechanical Treasures (I)

        I haven't yet decided what to make with the collection of little clockwork bits I bought for crafting.  I'm enjoying just having all those gorgeous little cogs and gears as I mull the myriad wonderful possibilities.  In the meantime, here's inspiration in the form of some really amazing things others have made - tiny clockworky things, whimsical robotoid beasts, magical creatures with charm and personality -  these are steampunkish masterpieces.  Some are disarmingly simple, some incredibly detailed, but they all tweak my sense of wonder.

        (Authors have introduced many a mechanical character who's more than just a machine.  Baum's Tik-tok from Oz, Rutkoski's Astrophil from The Kronos Chronicles, Whitehouse's Angus from The Island of Mad Scientists, and Juster's Tock from The Phantom Tollbooth spring to mind, but I'm sure there are others.  I'm not sure why living clockwork would seem so lovable.  I'd expect it always to be portrayed as creepy, but often it's not.)

        In any case, I think these sculptures are all a lot of fun.  I hope you enjoy them!  (And if your steampunk-tooth is still not satisfied, I've made an Etsy treasury with even more clockwork creations.)

[Pictures: Eupatrous gracilicornis, sculpture from watch parts and real beetle by Mike Libby (Insect Lab);

Valor - the Steampunk Dragon Prince, assemblage sculpture by Will Wagenaar (Reclaim2fame);

Large Lightbulb Fly, brooch by Denise Humphrey, (spankyspanglerdesign);
Robotic Bug 208, sculpture by Whitney Dirks-Schuster (MollCutpurse);

Chomper, sculpture from recycled watch parts by Justin Gershenson-Gates (A Mechanical Mind);

Steampunk Scorpion, sculpture by Daniel Proulx (CatherinetteRings);

Clockwork Rabbit, sculpture by Sue Beatrice (All Natural Arts).]